Banjo.



No. 641,708. Patented lab. 23, I900. R. KUENSTLER.

BANJO.

(Application filed Apr. 6, 1899.)

(No Model.)

mwuwmuwmmf main WWW-H .UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

inormnn KUENSTIJER, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA;

BANJO-A.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 641,708, dated January 23, 1900'. Application filed has 6,1899. Serial No. 711,931. on model.)

To all 20. 00712, it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD KUENSTLER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city and county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Banjos, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in means for stretching and securing the head of a banjo to the rim; and the object of my invention is to furnish an improved means for drawing down and securing the tightening-hoop and flesh-hoop of a banjo in order to stretch and secure the head, which can be more easily and effectually operated than the means heretofore in use for this purpose, which will be much lighter and less expensive than the ordinary fastening, and which will make a smoother instrument and one less apt to injure the clothing of the player than those furnished with the ordinary bracket-fastenmg.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification and in which similar letters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several Views, Figure 1' is a perspective view, partly broken away, of a banjo furnished with my improved fastening; Fig. 2, a side elevation, partly in section, of one of my improved fasteners; and Fig. 3, a central sectional elevation of my device for stretching the head preparatory to attaching the fastening.

a is the rim of a banjo; b, the head; 0, the flesh-hoop, and cZ the tightening-hoop. All these parts are similar in construction and operation to like parts of the ordinary instrument.

My hook for securing the several parts of the head is made in three pieces-an upper hooked piece 6, adapted to be engaged with the upper edge of the tightening-hoop cl, a lower hooked piece f, adapted to be engaged with the lower edge of the rim a, and a right and left threaded thumb-nut g, adapted to engage corresponding threads upon the adjacent ends of the parts 6 f. The shank of the hooked part c is straight, while the shank of the hooked part f is bent inward, as shown in the drawings, in order to permit its hooked end to engage the under side of the rim a, which is of considerably less diameter than the diameter of the tightening-hoop d, the upper edge of which is engaged by the hook on part c. The nut g is circular in cross-secf tion and is adapted to be set up by the thumb and fingers only. The sleeve-nut 9 being cylindrical and the hooked and threaded arms 6 f being round, no sharp or angular edges are presented to wear and injure the clothing of the performer. With this construction it would beimpossible with the fingers alone to operate the nuts 9 to sufficiently stretch the head b. For stretching the head I make use of the apparatus shown in Figs. land 3, which consists of a stem h, the upper end of which carries an arm 1', adapted to engage the upper end of hoop d, and the lower end of which is threaded and upon which a sleeve j, furnished with a cross-piece or handle 70, is adapted to be screwed. Z is an arm placed loosely on stem h and supported by the upper end of sleeve j, as shown. The arm Z is adapted to engage the lower end of the rim a, as shown in Fig. 1.

In applying my hooks to the banjo they are first placed around the rim, as shown in Fig. 1, and the nuts 9 revolved by the thumb and finger to draw the two ends of the hook firmly against the hoop d and the rim a. The stretching apparatus is now placed upon the head, the under part of the arm 2' engaging the upper end of hoop cZ and the upper part of arm Z engaging the lower edge of rim a, or vice versa, and the sleeve j is turned by means of crosspiece or handle 70, so that it is advanced along the threaded end of the stem h. The arm Z is advanced along with the sleeve, and as the arm '6 cannot give the hoop CZ is drawn down against flesh-hoop cas tightly as may be Wished. The hoops having been drawn down as tightly as desired, the sleeve-nuts g are set up firmlyby the fingers and when the stretching device is taken off holds the hoops and head firmly in place. The tightening device is applied first at one and then at another place upon the head until all the securinghooks have been fastened, when it is removed and put aside until it is necessary to again tighten or loosen the head. i

In the construction shown and described the brackets ordinarily secured to the rim or by screws passing through holes in the rim, through which brackets the lower ends of the the rim, the flesh-hoop, and the tightening 15' hoop, two rods the outer ends of which are hooked and the inner ends of which are furnished the one with a right and the other with a left handed screw-thread and the upper one of which is straight'and the lower one of 20 which is bent inward, and a right and left threaded thumb-nut joining the threaded ends of said rods. 7

RICHARD KUENSTLER.

Witnesses:

CHR STOPHER FALLON, CHARLES A. BUTTER. 

